Keluaran 19:15

19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.” ¹ 

Keluaran 21:3

21:3 If he came ²  in by himself ³  he will go out by himself; if he had ⁴  a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.

[19:15]  ¹ tn Heb “do not go near a woman”; NIV “Abstain from sexual relations.”

[19:15]  sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 537) notes that as the people were to approach him they were not to lose themselves in earthly love. Such separations prepared the people for meeting God. Sinai was like a bride, forbidden to anyone else. Abstinence was the spiritual preparation for coming into the presence of the Holy One.

[21:3]  ² tn The tense is imperfect, but in the conditional clause it clearly refers to action that is anterior to the action in the next clause. Heb “if he comes in single, he goes out single,” that is, “if he came in single, he will go out single.”

[21:3]  ³ tn Heb “with his back” meaning “alone.”

[21:3]  ⁴ tn The phrase says, “if he was the possessor of a wife”; the noun בַּעַל (ba’al) can mean “possessor” or “husband.” If there was a wife, she shared his fortunes or his servitude; if he entered with her, she would accompany him when he left.